Sunday, October 17, 2010

Play him. At first I had doubt he wouldn't be ready for this weeks game since he hasn't played a real game in weeks. First off he is playing Cleveland, who although they aren't the worst in the league, they still have let up 1100 passing yards and a slightly above average amount of rushing yards. Expect the Steelers offense to be in full form and I would not be surprised if they let Ben throw the ball. Don't be worried about him not being ready for the game either, multiple sources have gone over his strong work ethic during his suspension, and if there was a time to prove himself and win the fans back this is it. Coaches know this as well, so expect a pass heavy game plan.

It is kinda funny for me to be writing this though, because I do have Roethlisberger and I am not starting him. The reason is simply matchup. I have Jay Cutler playing against the Seahawks who have the 3rd worst passing defense in the league. He is coming off a concussion so this could be a bad decision. I really like him though, he's improved alot last year and loves to put up big numbers. I expect a 300+ yard game from Cutler. Thats fantasy football for you though and its going to be a blast watching it.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

How important is the defense to your team? The simple answer is not very important relative to your positional players, but a good defense can be the difference between winning and losing a week. On average a defense will earn 5-10 points, anything over 10 points I consider to be great. Almost always you get points for sacks, ints and fumble recovery and some leagues get points based on how few points and yards they allowed.

When evaluating the football teams defense it is important to understand their team as a whole. One trend I noticed is when a team has an offense that scores a ton of points, then their defense will often let up alot of points. Usually in the NFL you don't see games for 41-7, if one team is dominant the winning team's defense usually plays less conservative. Now this can be a good and bad thing, so let me explain. If your defense is giving up tons of points thats bad of course, but if they are forcing the opponent to force alot of passes it creates the opportunity for turnovers.

Simple logic of injuries also apply to defenses. If a team's star cornerback is hurt, thats would obviously be a red flag. Now there is a debate on whether or not you should have two defenses on your team week to week. The advantage is so that you can play the matchups correctly. This is a very good idea because like I said in my previous matchup post, playing them correctly can net you a ton of points. I would only keep one defense on my team if it was one of the few elite defenses in the league.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

It is very important to look at matchups for your players, the team your players are playing against. This is one thing that can separate a good fantasy football owner or a bad one. Say if you have 3 really good wide receives, which is not uncommon, and you're not sure which ones to play. One of the most important factors to whether or not they score alot of points is the defense they are playing against. Look at numbers like rushing yards and passing yards allowed for the defense you are going against.

Obviously going against a team that allows alot of passing yards is a good thing. This is what you want to look at first. You want to also see the defense's difference between passing yards and rushing yards. Coaches are going to look at these numbers as well and if they see a big difference between the two the coach will try to exploit this. Be sure to bench the players that are going against strong defenses in their respective category.

Don't strictly go by these numbers though. I will almost always choose my 1st round drafted running back to start, even if he is going against a great defense. Especially since my backup running backs are not that great. There are many factors in determining who to start week to week, be sure to look at the defenses those players are going against.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Unfortunately no matter how many good moves you make you can still lose to just plain bad luck. Every fantasy football player will come to this at some point and it can be really frustrating. This past week I was tied with my opponent, I still had my QB left to play and he had nothing. I needed 1 point, just 25 yards or a touchdown. Jay Cutler ended up getting -3 points for me, which is unheard of. It hurt, because I thought I did all the right moves, but sometimes you just lose to bad luck.

This is a fantasy game, so we don't have actual control of what players do. This is pretty obvious though. Thats why if you if take part in this hobby, make sure you take everything with a grain of salt. Understand that you will have good luck and bad luck, over a long period of time it will even out. In order to win though over time, you need to make consistently good moves week to week.